The small schools with the big hearts continue to battle at the Southeast Region V 1A basketball championships at Sitka’s Mt. Edgecumbe High School B.J. McGillis Gymnasium located on the MEHS campus on Kruzof Island. Play continues through Saturday as teams battle for berths in the 1A/2A state tournament at Anchorage, March 14-18.

“Obviously Jacob was huge for us again,” Thunder Mountain coach John Blasco said. “Collin (Ludeman) stepped up for us defensively and Trent (Uddipa) was our point guard leader controlling our offense.”

The Thunder Mountain High School senior Ashley Young scored a game-high 24 points as the Falcons basketball team eliminated the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears from the Region V 4A Basketball Tournament at Ketchikan’s Clark Cochrane Gymnasium on Thursday by a margin of 67-34.

“It was nice to see a game like that,” TMHS coach Tanya Nizich said. “It was really a matter of time really. These kids are fully capable to play like that any night of the week.”

Young scored 22 points in the first half as TMHS opened a 19-5 first quarter advantage and were up 35-17 at the break.

The Southeast Region V 1A Basketball Tournament began Wednesday at Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka with nine small school boys teams and seven girls teams vying for two spots each in the state championships at Anchorage in two weeks. Games continue through Saturday at the B.J. McGillis Gymnasium located on the Mt. Edgecumbe High School campus on Kruzof Island.

The Thunder Mountain High School boys basketball team fell 60-57 in a double-overtime thriller to the No. 1 seeded Kayhi Kings after trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half of the Southeast Region V Basketball Tournament semifinal game Wednesday afternoon in Ketchikan.

Ketchikan senior Alex Pihl hit two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining in the second overtime to give the Kings a 60-57 lead. Falcons senior guard Trent Uddipa’s three-point shot went down, in, around and out to end the game and Thunder Mountain’s upset bid.

The Thunder Mountain High School girls basketball team fell to the No. 1 seed Ketchikan Lady Kings 64-49 despite a game-high 26 points from senior Ashley Young in the semifinal game of the Southeast Region V Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at Ketchikan.

Young scored just two points in the first quarter, but senior Sarah Morris had five points and junior Ava Tompkins three to keep the Falcons within four points, 14-10, heading into the second eight minutes of play.

The Thunder Mountain High School boys basket team floated on the hot shooting of senior guards Jacob Calloway and Trent Uddipa, junior guard Shane Mielke and sophomore point Chase Saviers to hold off the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears 86-74 in the team’s Region V tournament opener at Ketchikan on Tuesday.

Away, TBA, The Juneau-Douglas High School Crimson Bears and Thunder Mountain Falcons boys and girls basketball teams, cheer and dance teams and pep bands will be at the Southeast Region V Basketball Tournament in Ketchikan through Saturday.